lol I still have one in a box somewhere, must recycle that. Thanks for reminding me :)

My current phone is a 14 month old Huawei X1 (V2.2). There's still quite a few phones with 2.8" screens for sale out there including the Samsung Galaxy pocket (also 320x240).

Personally, I like having my phone in a trouser pocket and anything bigger looks silly IMO. So long as it works as a phone, alarm clock and I can play Pinball Deluxe, Air Control, Solitaire…actually I have about 200 games installed (some are GBA emulation under GameBoid) and most play fine.

What more do I need? It's sufficient and if I lose it or break it, it's cheap to replace.

Your TV looks ok because it's showing 25 frames per second. If you were to use your TV as a computer monitor then it would be terrible. What resolution computer monitor do you have - 640x480?

That tablets resolution (800x480) is more suited to something like a 4" phone. Yes you can read a web page on that resolution - but clearly you would rather not because you have to keep zooming & panning.

For showing a movie, yes it is adequate (as in DVD video is (PAL) 720x576 or (NTSC) 720x480).

Of course I don't run 6x4 on my PCs — a ridiculous question. Unless it was meant to be rhetorical, in which case: haha, love your work. Let's move on.

A lifetime ago, yes I did, and even half that (320x200 / 320x240 — Amiga days (sigh)).

Like most people, I sit much closer to a monitor than a TV. No, I don't use my TVs as computer monitors and I'm usually at least 3 metres from a TV.

So I'm about to give best-case values for the Sammy and worst-case for the oldie. At the risk of apples/oranges myself I'll compare two different screen sizes. But still it seems unfair to bash on a cheap "lo-res" JB HiFi special from 2007 doesn't it?

having just an analogue tuner (it's a 2006 TV) it's using an HD STB. If I switch output res on the STB, there's a slight visible difference.

The HD channels do look noticeably better than the SD. The worst SD is the heavily compressed Go and this is also apparent on this TV. Paradoxically, the sharper your picture, the easier you'll see compression artifacts caused by the broadcaster

The overall PQ is better than our FHD Sammy (10 months old). In 2006, there was no Store/Home mode. The contrast on the cheapie kills the Sammy, despite its bag of enhancement tricks (dynamic contrast, black level boost etc).

My vision is better than 20/20 so I'm not romanticising or imagining it. We've viewed them side-by-side, being fed the same TV signal and those who have seen both happen to agree.

When prospective home buyers came through our place in 2009, the lady was raving about how sharp the old one looked. I told her it's just a cheap SD panel, but she wanted to know the model and where to buy it.
She must also be blind hey?

aus safety standards - don't leave it charging when you're not around.
UK charger pins - just buy a plug adapter $1 or so on ebay.

for the specs Vs price I'd give it ago (though I just bought a 10" amicroe tablet from HN for $166.

most electronics I buy is second hand (mobile phones, computers). they don't come with a warranty but then I don't spend too much on them. US$57 isn't much for a new tablet. I'd take the punt.

sorry, when I say "bin it" i mean that it is no longer useable and ripe for appropriate "afterlife" treatment. such as spare parts or with something like this (probably not something I could fix myself) I'd flog it on ebay.

I throw very very little away. if you could see my "man cave" you'd appreciate. ;)

One Win 8 tab even comes with the KhanAcademy.org app on its initial "Charm" menu & it lets you download their cost-free tutorial videos (by course), eg, for viewing where there is no Internet… outback, car trips, etc.

…providing a totally different orientation.)

So, if you're looking for a "cheap" tab to give a kid:

If you want a "Poor Dad" consumer, try the PendoPad 7 (I wouldn't!)

If you want an "Rich Dad" producer, I'd say: Go for something better.)

Yeah, but I'm such a tightarse OzB'er, I refuse to pay that price when they had it for $68 recently (deal is here somewhere). I did the store pick-up option, only to be told by my local HN it was on back-order.